Floodplain flowering rush (New Pleistocene)
Floodplain flowering rush (Butomus flumencampus) is a descendant of the invasive plant species Flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus). It still grows together in numbers, but more sparsely with the outmost individuals growing most further from the group. It is also more prone to bending it's stalk than it's ancestor. Biology and reproduction Floodplain flowering rushes are tall perennial plants, partially adapted to temporary aquatic conditions. Much like it's ancestor, flowering rush, it's leaves are basal, however they have moved a bit up the stem as the distance from the underground rhizome has elongated. This elongated part of the stem is elastic but also is capable of distributing considerable weight allowing the F. flowering rush to bend during it's childhood in order to survive being disfigured by the incoming water flows. The rhizome itself is stout and large, much like in the ancestral flowering rush. Also, similarly to it's ancestor, F flowering rush has an inflorescence (multiple small flower cluster) in an umbel position (short tiny flower stalks sprouting from a singular point). Anthers (the part which holds pollen) is elongated and can therefore be easily observed even in small flowers. F. flowering rush is hermaphroditic which means that every individual rush can be pollinated by insects. The fruit which forms on F. flowering rush doesn't open on it's own, needed to be ingested by animals or have it's outer later decay first. The seeds then can be washed away or be carried inside herbivore stomach's far away from the original birthplace of the parent. F. flowering rushes, much like ancestral flowering rushes can also reproduce via rhizomes and root pieces which allows them to spread around in a huge crowd but eventually this activity has been decreased in the descendants with individual offspring plants being spread vegetatively sparsely as if the plant's population is trying to find out whether the territory nearby isn't too chemically hostile. Behavior and ecology Fp. flowering rush is sturdy and during nightfall it uses the products synthesized during the day to grow much faster. Once it's bitten by a herbivore, if the rush is left alone, it will try regrowing itself. Compared to it's ancestors invasive behavior, Fp. flowering rush takes more caution into displacing surrounding plants which leads to a theory that somewhere in between it ran into other aggresively growing plants that managed to cow it into submission. Fp. flowering rushes are very prone to sprout in places where there is an excess of fresh dung from large animals as well as high moisture. It is versatile, growing both in sandy, loamy and clay soils, as well as soils in varying acidity. Possibly as a side effect to growing faster during the night, Fp. flowering rushes can grow in shade compared to their ancestors though then they grow much slower. Floodplain flowering rushes capitalize on the fact that the glaciers northwest from their population areas are capable of providing new waterways and sources (though the melting happens only in a considerable distance from the glaciers). They grow in the Russia continent geobotanical region, but only in the southern part. They are, like their ancestors, the common flowering rushes, extremely intolerant to salt and brackish waters as well as growing in extremely deep water. Floodplain flowering rushes are in the menu of siberian wildebeests and, rarer, saiga antelopes. Also they are frequently visited by smaller creatures though they do a poorer job at dispersing seeds further. As a result it can be estimated, that the Fp. flowering rushes aren't as widespread anymore. Also, due to the abscence of humans, as well as the fact the possibly several plant species have gone extinct anyway, the invasive status of Floodplain flowering rush has diminished. Although conflicts among with other plant species can still be possible, now the floodplain flowering rushes have the potential to be one of the species that might diversify and occupy empty niches therefore providing beneficial effect to the environment. Evolution Floodplain flowering rush origin is connected to the forming of Europian glacier. During the forming (and occasional minimal melting) of the glacier, the flowering rushes which managed to stay in the fertile, temperate territory between the glacieral zone and the dry regions caused by the glacier pulling away moisture, would be the ones likely to be ancestors of Floodplain flowering rush. The ancestral status would include both the flowering rushes "escaping" from the frost as well as the flowering rushes "migrating" from the dried up territories. During the unstable periods of water appearing and disappearing in some regions (also the water suddenly released by an ice dam breaking), flowering rushes would have to deal with sudden flooding of the grasslands they were in, though they would fare much better with this problem than other plants, less adapted for dealing with flooding. Also nightfall, possibly associated with less melting and water drying and therefore less chance of the water levels undergoing change, proved to be the most preferable time for the evolving flowering rushes to focus on growing taller. References The previous content has been written using large amounts of information taken from the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD). Global Invasive Species Database, 2005. Butomus umbellatus. Available from: http://issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=610&fr=1&sts=&sts=sss 24st December 2019. Category:New Pleistocene Category:Eurasia Category:Russia Category:Plants Category:Nocturnal Category:Angiosperms